I Think There's Something Wrong With My Strings

[gotmule?]

I bought a pack of D'addario flatwounds yesterday and they don't sound right. I have had them before, but these seem different. They sound a lot brighter and they click like rounds do when they hit the fretboard. The only thing I did differently w/ these is I cleaned them w/ alchahol swabs when I first put them on because there was this silver stuff on my fingers coming off the strings when I would play. I have cleaned strings like this before, and there has never been a problem. After I cleaned them, the silver stuff wasn't coming off the strings, but they still sound weird. Any help would be appreciated! I really need an answer fast b/c I have a gig tomorrow. Thanks!

[Mastermold]

Dude, flats (any brand) take a few weeks to season. Play the hell out of those strings today and they may settle down by tomorrow a wee bit, but you may just need to roll off the tone for a few weeks until they break in.

[gotmule?]

Ok, thanks for the help man. I'll see what I can do.

[All_¥our_Bass]

New strings always have extra brightness. Even flats.

[fretlessguy]

It may take a couple of weeks, but they will settle down and be a good set. Play them often.

[Pilgrim]

Another vote for patience. Play it and two months from now it will sound even better.

[jcalo]

You may need to have the action raised just a bit or have a technician inspect the neck as it may have raised slightly which could account for the extra clicking sounds.

[jasper383]

Chromes and GHS Precision Flats seem to have that silver residue on them. It will eventually go away.

Extra clicking might mean you need to raise the action a bit. Check relief and action.

If they intonate properly, and you have no weird wolf tones or anything else strange, play them and they will age nicely. You might never need another set of strings for that bass.